Spain provided a record number of organ donations in 2011

Spain provided a record number of donors of bodily organs in 2011 as the number of transplants in Europe rose, the health ministry said Wednesday.

In Spain there were 35 donors per million inhabitants, while the number of transplants performed in Europe passed 30,000 for the first time, it said.

There were a total 106,879 transplants recorded in the world — three percent higher than the previous year, said the ministry, whose National Transplant Organisation runs a worldwide survey of transplants.

Spain had the highest proportion of donors in any country, followed by Portugal, the United States and France. Spain recorded 1,667 donors — nearly 12 percent more than in 2010.

Spain “has for 20 years been the world leader in organ donations and transplants because the Spanish model is highly professionalised,” a spokesman for the ministry told AFP.

The study showed that in 2011 more than 63,000 people in Europe were on the waiting list for a transplant but only 48 percent of requirements were met.